{"id":124419,"date":"2020-01-15T14:43:23","date_gmt":"2020-01-15T22:43:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=124419"},"modified":"2020-01-15T15:01:22","modified_gmt":"2020-01-15T23:01:22","slug":"explosive-2009-report-on-crime-ridden-bc-casino-sector-uncovered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/explosive-2009-report-on-crime-ridden-bc-casino-sector-uncovered\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Explosive\u2019 2009 Report on Crime-Ridden BC Casino Sector May Have Triggered Government Shutdown of Police Unit"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 2009 report seen by Canada\u2019s Global News<\/em> that revealed the extent of money laundering<\/a>, loan sharking, corruption, violence, and human trafficking within British Columbia\u2019s legal and illegal casino industries was apparently ignored by the provincial government of the time.<\/p>\n

\"BC
Money seized during BC drug-money laundering investigations. Some casinos were accepting large cash transactions in $20 bills, brought to the cage in sports bags. (Image: PNG Merlin Archive)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three months later, the police unit that prepared the report was completely disbanded by the government. But now, thanks to extensive freedom of information requests by GN,<\/em> the report has at last seen the light of day.<\/p>\n

Denis Meunier, the former deputy director of Canada\u2019s anti-money laundering watchdog, Fintrac, told the Toronto-based news network that its contents were \u201cshocking\u201d and \u201cexplosive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Among the revelations is that an unnamed businessman with \u201cconnections to Asian organized crime\u201d was permitted to buy a stake in a BC Lottery Corp casino.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe regulatory investigator involved in the share-transfer process is alleged to have known about these connections when this subject originally bought into a casino,\u201d the report said. \u201cThe regulatory investigator is now retired from the provincial government. However, he still appears to be involved in the legitimate gaming industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loan Sharks and Traffickers <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The report claims that province-backed legal gaming operations and illicit underground casinos had become intertwined, often sharing the same dealers and loan-shark networks.<\/p>\n

These loan sharks routinely meted out violence — and murder — to those who could not pay their debts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIllegal and legal gaming share the same issues, such as loan-sharking, extortion, assaults, kidnappings and murders,\u201d the report concluded. \u201cAnd illegal and legal gaming have been interlinked when, in some cases, casino staff have directed patrons to loan sharks or to common gaming houses.\u201d<\/p>\n

In May 2006, \u201cThe eight-year-old daughter and the six-year-old son of a common gaming house operator were abducted at gun-point,\u201d says the report.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe children were told by the kidnapper that their father owed $300,000. A neighbor saw the children climb out of the trunk of a stolen vehicle and called police. They were recovered safely,\u201d the reports adds.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, organized crime with links to drug cartels was making big money operating underground gambling venues — money that could easily be laundered because the criminals had also infiltrated legitimate casinos, per the report.<\/p>\n

Crime gangs also made money from trafficking women from Asia into the province, where they would be forced into sex work.<\/p>\n

Money Laundering Scandal<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The report was filed by the RCMP\u2019s Anti-Illegal Gaming Unit, which at the time only had powers to target illegal venues. It recommended the government broaden its remit so it could investigate the presence of organized crime within BC Lottery Corp casinos as well.<\/p>\n

Instead, the government pulled its funding and shut the unit down.<\/p>\n

This was not the first report that was apparently quashed by the previous BC Liberal administration.<\/p>\n

When the BC New Democratic Party took over after the 2017 general election, BC attorney general David Eby uncovered a report<\/a> authored by the Gaming Policy Enforcement branch a year earlier. That report concluded the River Rock Casino in Richmond had been routinely guilty of turning a blind eye to large cash transactions made with low denomination banknotes.<\/p>\n

Eby commissioned an independent report which found that criminal gangs had turned the province into a \u201claundromat for organized crime\u201d with millions of dollars each year washed through a broken casino system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A 2009 report seen by Canada\u2019s Global News that revealed the extent of money laundering, loan sharking, corruption, violence, and human trafficking within British Columbia\u2019s legal and illegal casino industries was apparently ignored by the provincial government of the time. Three months later, the police unit that prepared the report was completely disbanded by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":124421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Explosive\u2019 2009 Report on Crime-Ridden BC Casino Sector Uncovered<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Was RMCP\u2019s Anti-Illegal Gaming Unit shut down because it exposed regulator who allowed crime figure to buy stake in BC Lottery Corp casino?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Explosive\u2019 2009 Report on Crime-Ridden BC Casino Sector Uncovered\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Was RMCP\u2019s Anti-Illegal Gaming Unit shut down because it exposed regulator who allowed crime figure to buy stake in BC Lottery Corp casino?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/explosive-2009-report-on-crime-ridden-bc-casino-sector-uncovered\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-15T22:43:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-01-15T23:01:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BC-MONEY.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/explosive-2009-report-on-crime-ridden-bc-casino-sector-uncovered\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/explosive-2009-report-on-crime-ridden-bc-casino-sector-uncovered\/\",\"name\":\"\u2018Explosive\u2019 2009 Report on Crime-Ridden BC Casino Sector Uncovered\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/explosive-2009-report-on-crime-ridden-bc-casino-sector-uncovered\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/explosive-2009-report-on-crime-ridden-bc-casino-sector-uncovered\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BC-MONEY.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-15T22:43:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-15T23:01:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Was RMCP\u2019s Anti-Illegal Gaming Unit shut down because it exposed regulator who allowed crime figure to buy stake in BC Lottery Corp casino?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/explosive-2009-report-on-crime-ridden-bc-casino-sector-uncovered\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/explosive-2009-report-on-crime-ridden-bc-casino-sector-uncovered\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/explosive-2009-report-on-crime-ridden-bc-casino-sector-uncovered\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BC-MONEY.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BC-MONEY.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":960,\"caption\":\"Money seized during BC drug-money laundering investigations. 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